Felix Felicis
by aramintasnape
Summary: Republished - originally written in 2007. Who will win the coveted phial of Felix Felicis? Join Snape, Sinistra and the Marauders in their sixth year to find out.


Disclaimer: everything from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Many thanks to Vaughn and Lorena Snape for beta reading, and to redvelvetcanopy, who also offered to help out.

**Felix Felicis**

"Now," began Professor Slughorn, smoothing out his green velvet waistcoat over his rotund midriff, "Golpalott's Third Law. Anyone?"

Severus raised his hand, a disdainful expression on his pallid face. If this class went any more slowly it would be going backwards. He had read his copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ during the previous school year and most of the chapters were already covered in his own annotations. He didn't think much of some of the recipes and instructions, so he had added his own improvements here and there. He noticed that Lily Evans had also put up her hand, as had Black and Potter, who were both lounging in their seats, grinning lazily. Wankers.

"Lily, my dear, why don't you enlighten us?" said Slughorn genially and Severus dropped his hand with a scowl. What was the bloody point? How could he ever compete with Slughorn's favourite Little Miss Know-it-All? He spent the next ten minutes making notes in the margin for another new spell he was in the process of perfecting, a slight smirk on his face. Maybe Black and Potter wouldn't be looking quite so smug once he'd had a chance to test it out on them.

"Right then!" cried Slughorn, clapping his hands. He drew a tiny glass phial from the pocket of his waistcoat. It appeared to be filled with liquid gold. "Who remembers this little chap?"

"Felix Felicis, sir!" said Kingsley Shacklebolt, grinning excitedly.

"That's right, Kingsley. And do you remember what it does?"

"Makes you lucky, sir."

The entire class was now leaning forward attentively, apart from Severus, who had lost interest in the proceedings and was thinking up more new spells to try out on the Gryffindor twats. He knew old Sluggy always gave out a bottle of Felix Felicis as a prize to his sixth year class at some point during the year, but there was no point in getting all het up about it. As if he stood a chance against Evans and the rest of them! Oh, he was better than them at Potions, there was no doubt about it, but he wasn't Teacher's Pet, not by a long shot, even though Slughorn was his Head of House. If _he_ were Head of House, he thought to himself, he would make sure to favour his own students over all others. It was only fair, after all. Not that he'd ever be caught dead teaching a bunch of prats like this in a dank dungeon, of course. He sniggered to himself just imagining it.

"Very well then," continued Slughorn. "Each of you is to take a phial of poison from these samples here on my desk and I want your antidote ready by the end of the lesson. May the best man – or woman – win!" He beamed as the class shot out of their seats, jostling and pushing in order to grab a sample and get back to their desks as quickly as possible.

Severus remained in his seat. Aurora Sinistra, who was sitting next to him, had leapt out of hers as if her knickers had caught fire. She raced back to her place with her poison sample and began hurriedly riffling through the pages of her textbook, noting down the odd thing here and there.

When the rush had died down, Severus got up and collected the last sample from the desk. He strolled back to his place and sat down, watching, amused, as Aurora and the others rushed backwards and forwards to the store cupboard, weighing, chopping, crushing, grinding, stirring, in a feverish attempt to get that lucky day. If it had been a lifetime's supply, or even a few months' worth, he might have been interested, but what was one day? It would only highlight how generally shitty the rest of the days were in comparison.

Aurora looked up from her steaming cauldron for a second, wiping sweat from her brow. She frowned as she took in the sight of Severus sitting there doing absolutely nothing.

"What're you doing?" she hissed at him. "You haven't even lit the fire under your cauldron yet! You haven't even opened your book!"

He scowled. "Mind your own business!"

She shrugged and went back to her own work. For a split second, Severus wondered whether he should help her. It would be a laugh to see the coveted prize snatched from under the noses of the Gryffindors. Besides, Aurora was okay. He supposed he even quite liked her. She didn't giggle in corners all day or flutter her eyelashes at Potter and Black like most of the other girls seemed to. And she was clever. She had helped him out a couple of times with his Astronomy essays and in return he had given her a few hints on her Potions homework. But seeing a puff of violent turquoise smoke rise suddenly from her cauldron, he realised it was too late. She had added ever so slightly too much leech juice and it was too late to correct it. He saw her shoulders slump as she realised her error, but she carried on stirring.

Ten minutes before the end of the lesson, Severus left his place and went to the store cupboard. He found what he was looking for in a small box tucked away at the back.

"Time's up, time's up!" called Slughorn a few minutes later. "Now, let's see. Kingsley, what have you got for me? Not bad, lad, not bad at all. Well done! And you, James?"

Severus watched as Slughorn made the rounds. He was in ecstasies over Lily's potion, and Black's. No surprises there, then, thought Severus bitterly. Finally, he reached their table and peered into Aurora's cauldron.

"Hmmm, perhaps a dash too much leech juice there, Aurora, eh? But a good effort, nonetheless. Severus?"

Slughorn frowned as he realised Severus's cauldron was empty. He looked questioningly at the Slytherin and Severus inclined his head towards the small, shrivelled object sitting in the middle of the worktable. He was probably in for a right bollocking and a detention to boot, but he didn't really care. He was sick of making an effort, only to be overlooked in favour of Evans or Potter.

Slughorn picked up the bezoar and looked at it for a moment. Then suddenly he roared with laughter, his round body shaking, and thumped Severus's shoulder so hard that he winced.

"Good lad! That's the spirit!"

The rest of the class were looking over trying to work out what was going on and Aurora was grinning at Severus and shaking her head.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you, Severus. A bezoar would certainly do the trick." Slughorn took the phial of Felix Felicis from his pocket and placed it in front of the Slytherin.

Severus's jaw dropped. He had been certain Slughorn would be furious at his audacity, or at the very least annoyed that he had spent the lesson doing nothing. And here he was with the sought-after prize! He could hardly believe it.

"Thank you, sir," he muttered, trying not to grin. Served those bloody Gryffindor sods right. He could already hear the whispers of indignation doing the rounds of the class.

As the bell went, he shoved his books in his bag and stowed the phial of Felix Felicis in the pocket of his robes, first putting a couple of protective hexes on it. He wouldn't put it past the Gryffindors to ambush him and steal it.

"Good one!" whispered Aurora with a smile. "I'm glad you got it."

He gave her an awkward half-smile back and walked out of the classroom. As he had predicted, the minute they were out of Slughorn's earshot, the taunts started.

"Slimy little cheat!"

"Wanker!"

"Think you're so bloody clever, eh?"

"Greaseball!"

Severus's hand gripped his wand, ready to strike the minute one of them turned on him, but suddenly a voice rose over all the others.

"Leave him alone! You're just jealous you didn't think of it yourselves."

"Oooh, who's this then, Snivelly? Your girlfriend?"

Before Severus could retort, Aurora shot back, "Well, I'd rather be _his_ girlfriend than _yours_, Potter! At least he doesn't swan about like an arrogant tosser pretending he owns the place!"

"That told you, didn't it, Prongs?" grinned Sirius Black. "Come on, let's leave old Snivelly and his bit of stuff in peace. Can't you just tell she's dying to run her fingers through those greasy locks? That's something I definitely don't want to be around to witness. Got your protective gloves, Sinistra? You'll be needing them."

As most of the onlookers burst into laughter, Severus pulled out his wand like lightning and pointed it into Black's face. "Piss off!" he snarled, teeth bared. "Or you might be needing a bezoar yourself in the very near future."

Sirius snorted, but turned and ambled down the corridor with the rest of the Gryffindors, most of whom were still laughing. When the corridor was finally deserted, Severus turned to Aurora angrily. "You shouldn't have done that! I can handle those wankers myself."

"I know. But I'm sick of them always getting the attention and praise. It's not fair. I mean, he's our Head of House, but a fat lot of good it does us sometimes. Anyway, that James Potter really gets on my nerves. Thinks he's God's gift to women, or something."

Severus suddenly had an idea. He took the tiny phial from his robes. "Here. You take this. I don't want it."

Aurora looked at him as if he'd sprouted another head. "I can't do that! What do you mean, you don't want it? A whole day of good luck. Just imagine what you could do to Potter and Black!"

It was a tempting thought, and Severus wavered for a minute, but stuck to his guns. "No. I don't want it. Really. You have it."

"But why?"

"Well," he muttered, hanging his head, "it'd just make the ordinary days seem even worse. No point. If it lasted for months and months, I might be interested."

Aurora looked at him. "Listen. Why don't we both take some? Half each. It might be fun."

Severus considered this for a moment, then shrugged. "All right. When?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should wait until we've got loads of difficult homework, or something."

"You mean like an Astronomy essay?" He grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "There is no way I'm wasting it on that! Hey, are you staying over Christmas?"

Severus shrugged. "Aren't I always?"

"I'm staying this year too. We could save it for the holidays."

"Deal." He smiled at her, a proper smile this time, and held out his hand. She shook it.

"Just keep it safe until then, won't you!"

On Christmas morning, Severus dressed quickly and made his way to the common room. His dressing gown and slippers were so shabby and beyond repair that he kept them hidden at the back of his wardrobe and usually crept around the chilly dormitory in his thin pyjamas. His clothes weren't that much better but at least they were plain black and not red and green striped with holes.

Aurora was already waiting for him, curled up on one of the sofas near the Christmas tree. He was struck by how different she looked. She hadn't changed before coming down and she was wearing a pale blue dressing gown over pink pyjamas. Her dark hair was loose.

'She's quite pretty,' Severus thought suddenly.

She smiled as he approached the sofa where she was sitting. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas," he muttered in return. He hated Christmas. The only good thing about it was that he was usually alone in his dormitory for the holidays and he didn't have to see Potter's ugly mug floating around the castle all day.

"Have you got it? Shall we drink it now?" Aurora had clearly been waiting for this moment ever since the Potions class three weeks ago.

Severus was beginning to have doubts. Maybe he should just let her drink the whole thing or save it until he really did have something important to do. It seemed pointless wasting it on a frivolous holiday.

Aurora saw his expression. "Come on! Just allow yourself to have some fun for once. Please?"

He sighed. "All right. Come on then."

He took the phial from his pocket and put it on the table in front of the sofa. He then took out two tiny glass goblets, taken from his Potions kit, and measured out the liquid, taking care not to spill a drop. When he was satisfied the two measures were exactly equal, he handed a goblet to Aurora.

She smiled and held it up. "Well, if it's enough for six hours each, that means we've got until two o'clock this afternoon. Cheers!" She drained her goblet and Severus did the same. They both sat there for a moment or two with bated breath, wondering what would happen next.

"I think we should open our presents!" squeaked Aurora suddenly.

Severus grinned, a feeling of intense well-being engulfing him. "Okay!" They lunged towards the tree and began examining the little heap of parcels. But he stopped suddenly. Why on earth was he looking for presents? If he was lucky, there might be a tiny box from his mother, but nothing else. All the rest would be for Aurora, since they were the only two Slytherins staying at school over Christmas. But just as quickly, his doubts faded and he started searching eagerly again. Sure enough, he discovered two – _two_ – parcels with his name written on the tag and one very expensive-looking – and very heavy – envelope, marked '_Mr Severus Snape, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_'.

Aurora was already tearing into her gifts with the eagerness of a small child. "Oh look! The new Starseeker telescope! The latest model!" she shrieked excitedly, unwrapping a long slim box. She held up the telescope and looked at it almost reverently. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Oh…er…yes. Really nice," he replied. It _was _very elegant and had clearly cost a lot of money.

She carried on unwrapping as Severus began to examine his own gifts. The parcel from his mother was large and soft. What on earth could it be? She usually sent him a small bar of chocolate or occasionally a book. But he pulled off the paper and found himself looking at a smart black dressing gown and a pair of black slippers to match. He gaped. Thank goodness for that! He would be able to look respectable in the dormitory at last, plus his feet wouldn't freeze on the cold stone floor.

"Oh, that's nice!" Aurora reached out and touched the fabric of the dressing gown. "Go on then, try them on!"

He put them on over his black jumper and trousers and paraded up and down, while Aurora nodded approvingly, then sat down to examine his other present. This one was rectangular and book-like and the label…was written in Aurora's handwriting. He was surprised and very pleased. How lucky he had thought to get something for her too, or he would have felt like a right idiot. He gave a start. This stuff really did work!

He opened the package carefully and took out a fat, dark blue volume, entitled '_Root's Comprehensive Encyclopaedia of Potions Ingredients, New Edition_'.

"Oh!" He flushed with pleasure. He turned his head to find Aurora watching him.

"Th…thank you!"

"Do you like it?" Her eyes were alight. He had never noticed they were blue before.

"Yes. Very much. Thank you!" He smiled at her and began to look through the book, noting all the new additions that had been made since the previous edition. Then he remembered the envelope. The handwriting was unfamiliar and he opened it carefully. As he tipped it up to remove the contents, several fat gold Galleons spilled out into his lap.

"Bloody hell!" He was stunned.

Aurora looked up from her own parcels and caught sight of the gleaming gold coins. "Wow! Who sent that?"

Severus frowned. "I have no idea." He gathered the coins together and counted thirty Galleons in all. He couldn't recall ever even having seen so much money in his life, let alone having it in his hands.

"Isn't there a letter or anything?"

He opened the envelope again, and sure enough, there was a small piece of parchment nestling there.

'_Dear Severus,_

_You will probably not have heard of me, but I am your great-uncle, Mortimus Prince. Your grandfather and I had a falling-out many years ago, meaning I never had the chance to know you or your mother. I have been living abroad for many years and have no plans to return to Britain, but, having no descendents of my own, I felt that my only great-nephew deserved a little something at Christmas. All I ask is that you use it wisely._

_Your Great-__Uncle Mortimus._'

"Bloody hell," said Severus again. He passed the letter to Aurora and turned the coins over and over in his hands, thinking of all the things he could buy. He would no longer be the outcast on Hogsmeade weekends who could barely afford the price of a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. He could even buy his own broom or a new cauldron, or maybe an owl…

'_All I ask is that you use it wisely_'. Severus thought for a moment. On the other hand, maybe he should see about applying for his own vault at Gringotts now that his seventeenth birthday was coming up. Yes. He would keep five Galleons for himself and save the rest.

His train of thought was broken by a squeal from Aurora. "Oh, thank you! How did you know they were my favourites?"

She was holding up the small box of Chocoballs he had got for her the previous weekend in Hogsmeade with the last few Knuts in his possession. It had only seemed right to get her something when they had arranged to spend Christmas Day together. Truth be told, he hadn't known they were her favourites at all, only that all girls seemed to love chocolate and whipped cream, at least when they weren't moaning about how fat it made them, so he had plumped for them as a fairly safe choice. Lucky again!

Aurora opened the box and they munched on Chocoballs for a while.

"Why don't we get these for breakfast every day?" She grinned.

"Look, why don't you get dressed and then we can go down for a proper breakfast?" Severus suggested. The chocolates were nice, but his stomach was crying out for a large plateful of crisp bacon and fried eggs, with thick slices of hot, buttered toast to follow. "Then we could go for a walk afterwards." He liked the idea of a walk in the snow.

"Okay." Aurora piled up her presents carefully and went off through the door leading to the girls' dormitories, while Severus went to stash his own gifts safely in his trunk.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, as most of the students and many of the staff had gone home. They sat next to each other and ate companionably. It was nice, Severus thought, to be able to have breakfast with a friend without the Gryffindors throwing taunts and jeers at them every few minutes. He ploughed through a large plate of bacon and eggs, topped off with toast and blackberry jam.

Afterwards, they got their cloaks and headed out into the snow. Severus conjured a jar of bright blue flames to keep them warm and they set off across the grounds. They went down to the lake first of all, which was completely frozen over, then, by unspoken agreement, made their way into the Forbidden Forest. Usually Severus would have thought twice about going in there, but today he was confident that nothing bad could possibly happen. The forest was silent apart from the crunching of their boots on the snowy ground and they got about a hundred yards in without seeing anything.

But then Severus caught a flash of something silvery-white through the trees ahead. "Look!" he hissed. "Over there."

"What was it?" Aurora asked.

"Just try and tread as quietly as you can. Come on."

They tiptoed along, making as little noise as possible, until they broke out of the trees and found themselves in a glade. The morning sun was beating down strongly and at the far side stood the silvery-white creature that Severus had spotted a few minutes before.

"Oh, look!" gasped Aurora under her breath, clutching at Severus's arm. "Isn't it gorgeous! And…oh, there are more of them, there's a baby one too, oh look!"

Three more unicorns had made their way into the glade, heads held high, tossing their perfect manes; two pure white adults and a small golden foal.

"Do you think we can get closer?" Aurora whispered.

"You try," replied Severus. "Go on. They're supposed to be easier around girls."

Aurora began to walk very slowly and carefully across the glade to where the creatures stood. She managed to get within ten feet of them before the largest one looked up and tossed its head. She stopped in her tracks, but stretched out a hand tentatively as the foal gave a low whinny and ambled towards her, pushing its nose into her palm. She gave Severus a delighted look as she petted it and he began to move closer. The foal let him approach and he stroked its golden neck.

It was a perfect moment. They stood grinning at each other, stroking the soft golden hide of the unicorn foal. "I bet no one else in the school has ever done this," whispered Aurora. "They're supposed to be really difficult to catch."

After a few minutes, they sensed the adult unicorns getting agitated. One of them approached the foal and began nudging it with its head. The two students backed off slowly as the herd turned and trotted out of the glade.

The rest of the morning was just as successful. Severus came across two types of magical fungi that weren't available in the student Potions cupboard, which he stored carefully in his pocket for future use, and a bit later they bumped into Hagrid, who gave them each a steaming mug of hot chocolate while they told him about the unicorns.

Before they knew it, it was one o'clock and time for Christmas dinner. Stomachs rumbling in anticipation, they made their way back to the castle and into the Great Hall. There was a large table right in the middle, set for twenty or so, and they found seats at one end between a tiny Hufflepuff first year and a couple of seventh year Ravenclaws.

Professor Dumbledore, who was seated at the head of the table, raised his goblet and wished them all a very Merry Christmas. Plump golden-brown turkeys began to appear on golden platters, along with sausages, roast potatoes, parsnips, and every other type of vegetable one could wish for. Severus and Aurora piled their plates, starving after their long walk in the cold, and poured liberal helpings of gravy over the food. After second helpings of Christmas pudding and custard, they decided they would burst if they ate any more. Some of the other students were getting up to leave and they did likewise.

"God, I'm stuffed!" said Aurora as they walked through the doors. "Let's just go back to the common room for a bit. I don't think my legs can hold me up after all that lunch!"

They slumped down on the sofa in front of the fire with contented sighs. They chatted for a bit, but the heat, and their full bellies, meant that they were soon sound asleep.

Severus awoke with a start some time later. He felt warm and content, and there was a comforting weight pressing into him. He suddenly realised that the weight was Aurora, who was still fast asleep, now with her head resting on his shoulder. His heart suddenly picked up its pace. He had never been this close to a girl before. No girl in their right mind would want to fall asleep with _him_. It was lucky, though, that he had washed his hair the previous evening. Not that it looked much better, but at least it was clean.

He wondered if he should wake Aurora, but it was nice just sitting there watching her sleep. She _was_ pretty. It was a relief to finally think that about someone other than Lily Evans. He despised himself for being drawn to _her_, especially after the awful incident down by the lake last year. Suddenly he found himself hoping with all his heart that Aurora hadn't been there to witness it. What would she think of him? But no, he was certain she hadn't been down by the lake that day. They had had their Astronomy practical exam that evening, he recalled, and she would have been tucked away in the library revising, despite being the only one who had no need to.

A while later, she stirred slightly with a soft sound and snuggled into him even more. Severus was a bit taken aback, but decided he wasn't going to complain. Suddenly she opened her eyes, realising where she was.

"Oh!" She sat bolt upright with a start. "Sorry…I…"

"It's okay." They stared at each other wide-eyed for a few seconds without speaking and Severus suddenly knew what he had to do. With his new-found confidence, thanks to the Felix Felicis, he was certain that she wanted it too, that she wouldn't push him away or look disgusted.

And he kissed her.

It wasn't drawn out or passionate, but it was soft and warm, and definitely much more satisfactory than he had ever imagined his first kiss being. She smiled at him as he drew back slightly, and he felt brave enough to make a second attempt, feeling definite stirrings in his lower belly as he put his arms around her awkwardly.

With a bit of practice, he thought, they could get very good at this. But suddenly he had an awful thought. As soon as the Felix Felicis stopped working its magic, this would all be over. There would be no more cosy chats and snogs on the sofa. A heavy, sickening weight replaced the fluttering feelings in his stomach. He knew it had been a mistake to take the bloody stuff in the first place.

It was then that he heard the clock on the mantelpiece chime softly six times and realised with a jolt that the potion must have worn off hours ago. His spirits lifted slightly.

Then Aurora leaned forward and kissed him again. Somehow she had managed to slip her hand into his without him realising. "Maybe next time there's a Hogsmeade trip we could…you know…go together." She blushed a deep red. "Only if you want to…I mean…"

Severus nodded with a smile, the weight in his stomach dissolving. "I'd like that."

Maybe life wasn't so bad sometimes, after all.


End file.
